The NBN will revolutionise Australian business and education, however not everyone will get it. Vast areas of regional Australia are being offered wireless and satellite instead. These mixed technologies can never match the speed of fibre optic. We are concerned that; in the long term this disparity in service will create a digital divide across the nation.We have created this website to inform and offer some options to regional people, who will be most effected across the nation.

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The NBN is critical infrastructure and universal adoption of the service as a replacement for copper is a no-brainer. Fixed wireless broadband is another issue. In areas with rainforest density foliage, hills and valleys such as the entire east coat of NSW it is a stretch to accept it may work. It is a line of sight dependent method of transmission and will be blocked by these things.

At 12.5 or even 25 megabytes per second fixed wireless is too slow to future proof the nation as data throughput is increasing exponentially.

Fixed wireless towers are currently the focus of class actions in Europe, Russia and the United States based on human health issues such as cancer and electro-hypersensitivity.

The towers are ugly and destroy the visual amenity of the townships.

On the expense of implementation of Fibre To The Premises (FTTP), each subscriber will furnish the NBNco with $30 per month as a minimum wholesale price. This may increase with speed levels. There are around 12-13 million subscribers in Australia.

When totally deployed the network with have the potential to supply a minimum of $360-$400 MILLION PER MONTH to the NBNco.

We as voters and ratepayers cannot understand why a second-rate service such as Fixed Wireless is being implemented or even contemplated instead of FTTP to all but the most remote locations outside towns. The policy is to provide fixed wireless or satellite broadband outside areas that have a lower concentration of accounts. This means if you are a kilometre away from town you get a substandard system for the same price as a good one.

This will result in devaluation of properties in rural areas and an unacceptable disparity in service within the regions. This also means a significant group of regional people will be less able to compete effectively in business, be productive, access educational conferences at home, expand GDP and increase tax receipts. Good one pollies!

At a time when communications are becoming critical to economic development and money is as cheap as it will get, we are embracing false economy to pander to the brain-dead and the disingenuous.